I'm done editing THIS post now, finally!
Sorry for the rant, but WE ARE OFF ON A TEAR now, lol... so, have @ it!
the NSA was used to help make vistas DRM hows that make you feel?
Yes, I'm aware of that per SLASHDOT, recently... & I don't TRUST it either, why?
This may sound a bit weird coming from me, because I really LIKE personal computing, but I figured there'd come a day when crap like this started... both on OS crippling (which I saw after NT 3.51 w/ "certain programs" that no longer WORK on any OS since, & when I want to use them? I have to load it again, believe it or not, & NOTHING to do w/ modern OS diff.'s imo, certain functions on IP were shut off for various programs, I am CONVINCED of it since NT 3.5x) & 'backdoors' into our homes via them!
So, the past 5 yrs, now or so?? I have been gathering what I can as far as good freewares & such for THIS series of OS as it stands now, for the day I may leave the net (@ home @ least, silly as that may sound).
do you really "them"/"they" in your personal pc?
I think they're in there already, IF they want to be & @ 1/100th of the difficulty there is for hacker/cracker types of 'classic' nature!
(and, if you're online via the public internet)
IMO, & this IS part of the doubtless "unspoken terms" of the US Gov't. pressure on MS the past few years now...
E.G.-> IBM mainframes, not exact here, but point is:
It used to be iirc, that if you pressed something like Ctrl+XYZZY you had insta-admin access @ a console terminal in them, believe it or not, & this was NOT well known until WAY later!
(Along w/ other things IBM hid, & MADE THEIR ENGINEERS KEEP THEIR MOUTHS SHUT ABOUT, see "John Titor" online, about how some of this came out (way out topic though, or is it))...
Remotely? I don't doubt this either... this world & HOW IT WORKS, sometimes (especially this week, on a personal level for me) really disgusts me at times.
I'm sort of an idealist I suppose, & believe that humanity is essentially a noble creature as a whole usually, working to better our lifestyle & conditions thereof & we have (heck, we eat & live in homes FAR better than kings a few hundred years ago did imo)... but, @ what price sometimes?
LOL, we're being sold "homeland security" for what? Less personal privacy & freedoms?? Homeland security is A LOT like you said about stopping every terrorist in the world in your thread about GAME COPY PROTECTION (doesn't work anyhow, not really, not IMO!).
It's easy to be a sneaky bastidge & pull terrorist crap, or as a pal of mine says "IT IS EASY TO BE BOGUS & DESTRUCTIVE FOR REVENGE!" & he's right. How do you fight an invisible opponent?
Sometimes? You HAVE to be willing to take a beating to ensure your safety, or deal one out... Easy for me to say though, I don't have a family to worry about that keeps MY mouth shut, so for somebody like me? Well, it's easy to square your shoulders in folks' like my case & thus, to NOT leading a "life of quiet desperation" much of the time...
However, this has gotten my butt kicked a few times though, I'll admit that. This week SORT OF being one of them (not bad, but enough to upset me on a personal level in real life, & NO, I won't get into it (not legal stuff, I'll give you that much, but more on a MONEY level, only)).
BUT, always worth it to me: I couldn't live w/ myself otherwise for the MOST part (yes, sometimes we ALL have to keep our mouths shut, for awhile @ least to SOME things, others not I suppose).
APK
P.S.=> Heck, now, more than ever? I am CONVINCED that "Dogs are better people, than people" because when I look around me? I want to walk away from everything, & just learn to live on a mountain like a hermit or something, lol...
Don't mind me, but reading ALL of this? Upset me a great deal, because I see something that OUGHT to be BETTER, on ALL levels, not being so... & only a matter of time, if I choose to stay in this field/ballcourt, before I have to 'succumb' to it as well... apk